Automatic mechanism for stopping trains



S. P. JOHNSON. AUTOMATIC MECHANISM FOR STOPPING'TRAINS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28, I919 Patented July 192W 2 SHEETS-fill! I.

IN V EN 0R.

S. P. JOHNSON. AUTOMATIC MECHANISM FOR STOPPING TRAINS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEZB. I919. 1,345,599., Patented July 6, 19%.,

2 SHEETS-SHED 2.

pi -wrr INVENTOR. 6.

A TTRNEYS.

snMUEL nconnson, or inonenenn, wnsr mama i To all about it may concern."

*Be it known that LSAM E P. JoHNsoN,

a citizen. of the United States; residing at Longacre, in the county er Fayette and .Eitate of West Virginimhave invented new" and useful Improvements 1 in Automatic Mechanism for Stopping Trains. of which the following is a specification. n

This invention relates to means for automatically stopping railway trains when a block signal is set against the train, and

the object of the invention is to provide simple and improved means "for automati cally. applying the airnbrakes and closing the throttle by means carried by a locomotive and actuated by electric circuit which is under the control of the usual semaphore of any ordinary block signal sys- With these and other objects in view. the

presentinvention consists in the combine tion and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, "illustrated in the accompanying drawingsand particularly pointed out in the appended 9 claims, it OLECOHISG being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size and.

ininor details may be made, within thescope of the clalms WltllOlllltlGpfLlfilllg from] the 80 spirit orsacrificingany of theadvantages of the invention.

In the drawings, n

Figure 1 s a sidewelevation showing an embodiment of the present inventionfthe bottom portion of a semaphore fpole being broken away to showfithe switch which is a controlled bythesemaphore, and the out- 1 lines.

yoke or seat for line of a locomotive being shown in dotted 2 is a vertical sectionalview, on an enlarged scale, taken through the. cylinder mechanism for actuating the throttle lever.. I a F g. 31s a fragmentary planflview shows i ngthe connection between the throttle lever and the piston of the cylinder.

a Figf l is a detail cross sectional view on thelineA-4otFigQ.

ll figwfi is a detail v perspective view ofthe the support or the throttle lever cylinder. l x a x :Fig; 6 is a rear "VlBW of the contact member carriedbythe locomotive.

[Figl 7 is a side elevation of Fig.

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the :Speci fl cation of hetters Patent extends through the braclzet 14: and :otally connects the arm to the bracket; An

horizontally onthe fastening 1.8 as acenter so as to accommodate itself to conditions as AUTOMATIC rrnonnnrsn roe. srorrrne 'rnanrsfl atenticed July '8; 111823 0.

1919. Eerial N set/ arid a a contact rail whichis placed upon the railand connected to a cylinder fi preterably by,

means of a flexible hose or pipe section 7, the upper end of which is connected to the rear portion of the cylinder 6. This cylinder is provided witha piston 8 having a piston rod 9 working through a stufling box 10 provided upon the rearend of the cylinder. The forward end portion of the cylinder ls provided with a plurality of openings 11- for the escape of air when the pis ten 8 is inoving forwardly. l v

T he cylinder 6 is mounted in a seat which includes a substantially ll-shaped yoke 12 having an arm or shank 13 extending at substantially right angles to the plane of the yoke and lying upon a suitable bracket 14: secured to the side of the locomotive boiler in front of and adjacent the cab of the locomotive. Each member of the yoke is provided with aset I screw 15 which takes into a socket in the adjacent side of the cylinder so that the latter may rock or oscillate vertically upon the axis afforded by the set screws. 'lhe shank or arm 13 is provided at its outer end with an opening 17 for the reception of a fastening 18 which plT- arcuateslot 19 is provided in the arm 13 and arrangedwith theopenmgl? as the center from which the are 18 struck. A fastening 20 extends through the slot 1.9 and into the bracket 14: so as to hold the arm downh againstthe bracket and limit the mountingjust desrwribedq it will be seen that the cylinder 6 may oscillate vertically about its center on the pivots 15 and may swin will be hereinafter described. Because of the movements oil? the cylinder 6, the 'fiGXllJlQ pipe portlon 7 1s employed. i a

I swingingmovement ot the arn'r. By the V and the throttle lever the piston rod 9 A, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings includes a ring 21 ini The connection betweenv v teriorly screw threaded and fitted to the rear end: of the piston rod.- A pair of spaced arms 22 extend reanwardly from the rin and embrace or straddle the throttle lever. The arms 22 are provided with alined longitudinal slots 23' through which'extends a pin 24 which also extends through the throttle lever. Another pin .25 extends through the outer ends of the arms 22 and normally lies against :the outer side of the handle v26 pivoted upon the throttle lever as at 27, and

I icontrollingthe ratchet lock for the throttle.

Said ratchet lock-is not shown in the drawings as it forms no'part of, the present invention and i's'za common. and well known device.

7 When the piston sis moved forwardly, it avi ll seen that the initial move- 'men't presses the pin 25 against the handle 26 so as to first 'r'eleasejthe locking, ratchet,

I theconnectionbetweenthe piston rod-9and V the throttle lever :sliding without moving across the latter the :same' until the closed rear ends of the'slots 23engage the pin 24,

' whereupon the throttle leveris pullediorwardly thethrottle is thereby closed.

At a suitable place on the branch pipe 4,

,preferably-near the forward end thereof ,there isava lye27 which .isnormally closed I nd designed to; be

able bracket 32 V I underside ofthe running -lOCOlnOtL V, an'd'the core of the solenoid as opened so as to admit pressure from the'train pipe 3 ,to the cylinde1 -6:so as to :close the throttle. This valve is provided with a crank arm -2S pivotally connectedto a link 29 which is in turn pivvotal ly connected to a lever 30 fulcrumed in- :termediate ofxi'tsvendfiasat'3'l upon a suitsecu red to a convenient 1 art :01 the locomotive. A solenoid 33 issuitably .nmuntedfupon the locomotive, say at the board 3. 1 of -the connected to the lever 30 by a dink 35. The connectionkbet'weenthelink 35 and the lever 30 is preferablya pivoted andslidable connectionin ord'er that the link :35'may travel as nearly as possible in'a straight line so as Jto avoid binding of the core in the solenoid. When :thesolenoidisenergized, the link 35 willbe mo'ved-endwise resulting in the open- ;ing ,of theva'lve 27, whereby the train pipe pressure fWill be reduced and the brakes ap plied: fllhe ftrai n ,,pipe pressure-escaping through-the; valve 27' is conducted-iby "the pipes to the cylinder 6, and thereby the throttle lever 30 -is;first unlocked and then imoved :tO closeithe throttle and stop :the 7 0pv eration ofthe,.- locomotive.*

. Inasmuch as the piston rod 9 is pivotally connected to the throttlev lever the cylinder =6 isi niountedito move horizontally about the -f-astening' 18% a center so asato accommodate the cylinder to the arcuate swing of the connection between-theipiston rod9 and the cludes a pair of the arms so "57 leads from the conductor 37 leads from the other end of the solenoid to a contact member carried bythe locomotive in position to wipe across a stationary contact member provided upon the railway track. This contact member inspaccd arms 38 having a spacing block 39, of insulating material, intcrposed therebctwcen and secured thereto by suitable fastenings 40. A cross-head ii is-secured across the top of theconhu-t member and said cross-head is in turn connect- .ed to some suitablepart of the locomotive,

say to therear portion of the cmv-mrtrhcr, as indicated in F 1g. 1 of the drawings. A. brush contact 42 is secured between the lower ends of the arms 38 by means of fastenings 43w-hichpuss through slots M in as to provide for vertical adjustment of the brush to compensate for 851,11

Between the rails of the track and at a suitable distance from each semaphore pole 45 there is astationary contact member iueluding a rail 46, preferably of wood socured to the ties and disposed in the path of the contact brush 42. The top of the rail 46 :isprovided with a plate 47 of conductive material, and from this plate or shoe leads a conductor 48 which extends to a stationary contact jaw 49 preferably located in the hollow base 50 of'zthe semaphore pole 45. A

knife switch member 51 cooperates with the .jaw 4L9and is suitably. fu'lcrumed within the casing 50,7as for instance upon a post 52.- A rod 53 is :connected to the blade or arm 51 and is also connected at its upper end to the f movable s'emaphorearm 54 so that the switch :member'5l will be moved to open position ;-when the semaphorearm 54 is set for a clear -track.- ;Of course the switcharm 51 will be moved into engagement withthe jaw or contact member 49-of the switch whcnrthe semaphore arm 54 is set to indicate that the block is closed. A conductor 55 leads from the contact 4:9t0 -a'battery56. A conductor battery 56 to one of the rails of the track. "Under-normal conditions,thesolenoid circuit is open as Ehereinbefore described, and

the semaphore circuit is also open, first because there 1s no connection vbetween the con- ,ductor 57 and the contact plate 5 .7, and for a the :turther reason that the switch arm 51 is.

contact plate 47, the two circuits will be 1 upon joined toform a single closed circuit, wherethe solenoid 33 NVlll he energized, re sulting in the opening oi thevalve 27 and e the automatic application of the air brakes and the closing of the throttle, whereby the train will be brought to acomplete stop in time to avoid a collision or derailment.

What I claim is: 1. In automatic mechanism for stopping trains, the combination with an air brake system and a throttle lever, of: a cyllnder mounted to oscillate upon a transverse axis dlsposed lntermediate the ends oi. the cylinder and provided with a piston connected with the throttle lever, abranch pipe leading from the train pipe and having a flexible connection with the cylinder at the throttle lever end thereof a valve included in the branch pipe, and means for opening the valveto reduce the tram pipe pressure and apply the brakes and also to actuate the piston and close the throttle.

2. In automatic mechanism for stopping trams, the combinatlon with an air brake system and a throttle lever, of a cylinder, a

yoke embracing the cylinder, pivot pinsconnecting the cylinder to the yoke, a piston in, the cylinder, a connection between. the piston and the throttle lever, a branch pipe leading from the train pipe and having a flexible connectionwith the cylinder, a valve included in said branch pipe, and means for opening the valve to establish communication between the train pipe and the cylinder.

3. In automatic mechanism for stopping trains, the combination with an an: brake system and a throttle lever, oi a cyllnder having a piston connected to the'throttle lover, a swinging yoke embracing the cylinder, pivot plns supporting the cylinder upon the yoke, a branch pipe leadlng from the train pipe, a flexible connection between the branch plpe and the cylinder, a valve i11- cluded in the branch pipe, and means for opening the valve to establish'communication between the train pipe and the cylinder.

SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

